As UP prepared to vote in
the third phase of this long-winded election on Sunday, Behenji was in
Bundelkhand working up support for her brand of change. As was evident
from the inclusion of many Muslims in her candidates list, her spiel was
aimed at weaning away as many non-BJP voters, particularly Muslims,
from the Samajwadi Party fold as possible.

Striking a fine
balance in attacking the BJP and the SP alike, she held Modi responsible
for the problems caused by demonetization and Akhilesh Yadav
responsible for the poor state of law and order in UP.

The people
of UP — as also the rest of the country — were “fed up” with the
three years of the Modi, she said and accused him of “burdening the
population in the name of the fight against black money”.

With
the BSP on the uptake as far as social media is concerned, a flavour of
Behenji’s campaign can also be had at her rallies. On Saturday it was
Bundelkhand she barnstormed. In Jhansi, an atmosphere enveloped the
Pradarshani Maidan as BSP supporters poured in, wearing blue scarves
around their necks and waving the elephant flag almost four hours before
the lady arrived. Until then, chota-mota leaders took turns to keep the
crowd entertained by targeting Modi and Akhilesh.

It was
Mayawati’s first major public meeting in Bundelkhand, which goes to
polls on February 23. The turnout of lakhs - and the energy of the crowd
— at the Prdarshani Maidan in Jhansi is likely to make her political
rivals take notice.

Surprisingly for a rally, the BSP supremo
speaks meant to take the sting out of the UP ke ladke strategy of
Akhilesh-Rahul and pitch of Modi. She vows to send to jail all those
‘’SP criminals'’ who are presently roaming free, and reels off a litany
of ‘BJP-fomented aggressions’ against SC/STs and Muslims around the
country: Rohith Vemula, Una, Dadri and so on.

She does pause to promise a change — in herself. This time I will only focus on working for the people she says.

There is an organization to Mayawati’s meetings. They are hassle-free
both for the administration and the police. Ensuring this are hundreds
of blue-and-white-clad men and women of the Bahujan Volunteer Force
(BVF), a wing of the BSP.

‘’All our public events, be it major
meeting or at the village level, are always smooth. We don’t allow
crowds to climb trees, poles or become unruly. This is like a festival
for us. Right from the start of the event till the end, our workers
maintain decorum and that is a rule in BSP events,'’ said Rohit, a BVF
member.

She does pause to promise a change — in herself. This time I will only focus on working for the people she says.

Akhilesh has two uncles: one is Modi and the other Amit Shah. They have
often saved Akhilesh and his family from all sorts of trouble. Akhilesh
also has an aunty, Sonia Gandhi who used to save him earlier. But now
his time is up.

On Narendra Modi ‘Modi promised you that he would bring back black money and deposit 15 lakh in your accounts. Did you receive a single rupee?

UP election: FIR against Azam Khan’s son for ‘attacking’ BSP supporters

Rampur police have initiated investigation against Abdullah Azam Khan,
son of senior Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan, and his supporters for
allegedly attacking and causing hurt to supporters of Bahujan Samaj
Party on the day of polling. Polling in the constituency was held on
February 15.

Abdullah is contesting from Suar constituency of Rampur on SP ticket against Kazim Ali Khan of BSP.

The FIR was lodged on the basis of complaint filed by Haider Ali Khan,
son of Kazim Ali, in Suar police station on Thursday. According to the
complainant, Abdullah and over 200 supporters of Samajwadi Party
manhandled Haider Ali and his supporters near polling booth.

“They used abusive language against me and my supporters and charged on
me. I somehow managed to save my life or they would have killed me,”
reads the complaint lodged by Haider Ali.

Based on his complaint,
the police lodged an FIR under section 307 (attempt to murder) of
Indian Penal code (IPC) against Abdullah and his 200 supporters. “A
police team under the station house officer of Suar police station is
investigating into the matter,” said Rampur SP KK Chaudhary.